4 posts tagged “star trek”

Star_trek_movie_poster_imax

A film reviewer friend of mine said that this movie "was not your father's Star Trek." That is 100% accurate. But it knows your father's Star Trek, realizes how many people like your father's Star Trek, and updates your father's Star Trek with this in mind so it does it without diminishing your father's Star Trek.

For me, as good as they got, the previous Star Trek films seemed to be big-budget, much longer episodes of the TV series. This is the first that feels like a film first, franchise extension second.

You opinion of the film should be determined with in the first half hour. The wife and I were moved to tears. This could probably be due to where we are in our lives right now, but it could also be due to the skill of the filmmakers.

This is a more viseral film than a cerebral one. The emphasis is more on action that the contemplation of weighty issues. But it is a movie, not an episodic TV show. It is a different animal.

Granted, this script isn't King Lear. It manages to be complex (as plots involving time travel usually are) yet simplistic (if you've seen a movie before, you'll be able to predict events before they happen), but it works.

This film moves along quickly and is never boring. Even with the exposition laden scenes, which are a necessity considering the plot, come across as unique and entertaining.

There are nods to fans of the original series. There is a reference to a plot point in the film which should allievate any long-time fans concern about the changes to the mythology. This is not a prequel to the TV series, but rather, a sequel to the other movies.

But you still have taglines and references from the original series thrown in to please fans.  

The acting is uniformly awesome. Each actor comes to inhabit the iconic roles they were given. Especially Chris Pine. His Kirk isn't a smooth or polished Shatner-ish Kirk (until the last few frames) but rather a younger, rougher Shatner Kirk. You believe this is the man who will become the hero of the Enterprise. And Karl Urban does well at channelling not only DeForrest Kelley's cantankerous McCoy but also the kind and human McCoy as well.

The film beefs up Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov, giving each of them moments in the sun. The only bad thing about this is that it takes away moments from Bones and Scotty, which is regrettable.  

This is not to say the film does not have its flaws. The predictability is an issue. And the reliance on slapstick is very disconcerting. The goofy chase scenes and other physical comedy breaks the narrative flow. And there are plot elements that are essentially MacGuffins which are never explained (Red Matter? What is Red Matter?) 

Some people criticize the film as being an ipso facto remake of Star Wars. And I'll admit, when Kirk was fighting that weird animal on the ice planet, I was expecting him to whip a lightsaber out of his boot. But I think the similarites is that both films are sci-fi actioners more than a deliberate attempt of mockery.

However, this isn't a deep film. The creators are actively moving away from that. But if you want a fun, popcorn summer flick, then you should be entertained by this film.  

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Over at the Onion A.V. Club, they have a listing of the "20 pop culture obsessions geekier than Monty Python". And they should know geeky because what is geekier than being the serious offshoot of an organization that devotes its time to writing fake news articles because it's funny. It's named the A.V. Club for a reason.

Anyway, I decided to take this as a test to see how geeky I am. I will give myself five points for any of the 20 that I am a fan of, have attended, or have participated in. I don't dress up so I am not the rabid fan I believe they are talking about, so take that into consideration if you are scoring at home. Here we go:

1. Star Trek:

Yeah, I'm a fan. Mostly of the first series. I did a little happy dance when I got volume one and three of the original series at a store's going out of business sale. I'm even down loading the Gold Key comics off of WOWIO.  So, this is one strike against me.

Verdict: Guilty.

2. Renaissance Faires:

I have attended more than one. I could make the argument that I only went because someone I knew was in the cast, but that wouldn't be fair, since I enjoy them. 

Verdict: Guilty.

3. Fantasy Sports Leagues:

Yeah, I'm in these big time. Multiple sports and for every sport I am in multiple leagues. The A.V. makes a point of how bad it is that you have to root for a player to do well against your favorite team, like it's a sin. The point is, I always root for the player to do good, but for my team to do better. That's the secret.

Verdict: Guilty

4.  Michael Jackson:

I own a greatest hits album of his and also of the Jackson 5. Outside of that, I couldn't be bothered.

Verdict: Not Guilty.

5. Wikipedia:

I'll cop to this one. I am not a habitual updater of the site, but I use it a lot in my writing (with everything I take from there taken with a grain of salt). So I'll cop to this one.

Verdict: Guilty.

6. Battlestar Galactica:

I own the first season but have yet to watch it. Will I become obsessed with it? Probably. But as of yet I am not.

Verdict: Not Guilty.

7. The Rocky Horror Picture Show:

I have seen one, ONE, midnight showing of the movie in my life. I did not dress up in character, but I had a good time. I will probably never dress up (because I look awful in fishnets) but I may go again. So, I'll cop to this one too.

Verdict: Guilty

8. Joss Whedon:

Yes, yes, yes. Love Firefly. I have the full run of Buffy on DVD waiting to be watched, and Astonishing X-Men, Buffy  and Runaways in my comic pull list. So, yes.

Verdict: Guilty

9. Media-specific role-playing:

I have role-played about a grand total of twice in my entire 36 years. Not that I have anything against it, but the crowd I hung with in hish school, geeky though it was, wasn't big into it. If I played, I would probably be obsessed with it, but I'm not.

And that goes for media specific too.

Verdict: Not Guilty

10. Magic: The Gathering:

I never got into card-based role playing either. A little after my time (although my wife, who is the same age, used to collect Magic card, so that argument doesn't hold water)

Verdict: Not Guilty

11. World of Warcraft:

It's a streak of role-playing games I never got into. The reason I never got into WoW is because my internet connection speed was dial-up for most of the game's existence, which precluded me from joining in.

Verdict: Not Guilty

12. The Simpsons:

We are back in the Guilty column. Love the Simpsons. I quote the lines, sing the songs, and imitate the voices. At the aforementioned going out of business sale, I completed my set oif DVD set of the series. I did another happy dance.

Verdict: Guilty

13. Doctor Who:

Yes. I love Doctor Who, and I love the mythology. I watch the show whenever I can.

Verdict: Guilty.

14. Frank Zappa:

No, unfortunately. I have heard a song or two, but I am not a humongous fan.

Verdict: Not Guilty

15. Game Show Tape Trading:

No. I didn't even know this existed. It sounds somewhat intriguing, but no.

Verdict: Not Guilty 

16. Anime:

No. I like Anime better than Manga, but neither really cut it for me.

Verdict: Not Guilty.

17. Coplay:

Again, this involves dressing up. And I will never dress up. Because I am too fat and there aren't a lot of fat characters in pop culture for us fatties to dress up as.

Verdict: Not Guilty

18. Live-Action Role Playing:

See above, about role-playing and dressing up. Although I do find this interesting is a "so-crazy-it-might-be-fun" sort of way.

Verdict: Not Guilty

19. Second Life/MySpace/Facebook:

I am not obsessed with these in a "getting as many friends" sort of way, but more in the functionality of it. I love the games in Facebook and getting in touch with bands on MySpace. I am not on Second Life, but I am in Friendster and ComicSpace. Look me up.

Verdict Guilty

20. Fanfic:

I have nothing against fan fiction, I just don't participate. I feel my efforts would be better spent to try and get a job writing the characters for real than writing them for free.

Verdict: Not Guilty

Let's see. That's 9 out of 20, so I am 45% geeky, according to the A.V. club.

I am thankful they didn't include Comics, Action Figure collecting, Sci-Fi novels, video games, music or anything else I am obsessed about. If they did, that score would be much higher,

I am a rare bird in many ways, but one is because I have just about an equal love for Star Wars and Star Trek. Usually, it's one or the other. I like both.

So, in case anybody out there hasn't seen it yet, here is the teaser trailer. As it is a teaser, you won't see much along the lines of plot or actors. But it is enough to give the hardcore fan goosebumps.

Thanks to The Beat for pointing me in the right direction.

Here is a new blog post comparing the cast of the new Star Trek movie with the ones from the original TV show.

By the way, all the posts that used to be here about the weekly new releases have moved over there as well. So if you were interested in them, that's where they are.